World After Worlds
Chapter 380: § QUOKO §

Chapter 380: § QUOKO §

Chapter 127

Kraig and Lyndon that were staying in her room saw Matteo’s sudden appearance along with Yanarym. Matteo was guiding the capsule and brought it above Yanarym’s bed and glanced at the two young men inside the room with hostility.

"Aren’t you staying here for too long?" He asked menacingly. Because the space and the realm of this world had two different times, he forgot that his almost three weeks staying in the other place was converted into three or six hours in reality.

In that space, Matteo strived to his best to cure her but there was no other solution but to face the culprit at hand. Moreover, Yanarym was getting worse, each time would pass. He couldn’t be any more second late, she was starting to give up, she was already convulsing and crying for everything just to stop. Matteo had to save her...

Lyndon heard what Matteo asked but was more concerned with Yanarym’s condition.

It was almost midnight when Matteo came back from his space with Yanarym. She was in her capsule with the cloud-like mattress gone, instead, it was filled with holy water inside. There was no other way to breathe and she was sleeping, floating in it like she was so peaceful and comfortable. Her hair strands were scattered but it wasn’t blocking her face, she was such an ethereal view, she was such a nymph-fairy inside that close space. "Rym... " Kraig called her name mesmerized.

"Could she breathe here? Why did you submerge her into the water? Is she alright?" Lyndon asked as he inspected the orb, unlike the first time he saw it, it didn’t fly away, that was why he had finally seen her up close. She looked thinner... she didn’t look any better. She’s worsening.

"She could breathe there, and that’s holy water, and she had to submerge into that because if not her flesh would be eaten by quoko." Lyndon’s hand was frozen in the air when he heard what Matteo said. He shifted his eyes in him with a grimace of disheartening.

"A quoko?" Matteo did not answer and touched the shell of the capsule, a black spot suddenly appeared on her shoulder, with a brush of his hand to the capsule the water glowed and the spot disappeared. "Is t-that a quoko?" Lyndon stuttered.

He’s a healer mage, although he appeared to be a delinquent that disliked studying, he knew a lot of things when it comes to diseases and medicines. And a quoko in Yanarym’s body wasn’t pleasing news at all.

"What’s a quoko?" Kraig’s eyebrows knitted, he had no idea what they were talking about but their expression was telling him it was not a good thing. "What was that thing on her shoulder?" Another question, but the other men in the room weren’t saying anything.

"It’s a parasite." Professor Lena entered the room and looked at her daughter. Yanarym was floating like a dream in that white dress she was wearing. A smile appeared on her face, but the sadness was visible in her eyes. "The person who cursed her wanted to kill her as fast as possible at the same time they wanted her to suffer as much as possible." She said as she walked closer to the capsule but didn’t touch it.

Lena only looked at her daughter’s visage and she rested assured seeing her still breathing.

She had been studying these curses and magics from the beginning of her childhood. She loved witchcraft very much but she wasn’t blessed to become one. Although she couldn’t use them, at least she would know them and that was the most important thing in teaching at the academy---knowledge.

However, she never thought that this knowledge and theories of ancient text would appear to her child and despite knowing it all, she couldn’t do anything to save her. At that moment, she just wished that this black magic didn’t exist...

"Quoko is an ancient parasite, they eat the flesh and bones of their host until they disappear into nothing. Ancient books would always describe quoko as the worst parasite that had ever existed. The host that was being eaten by it would feel excruciating pain that they would rather kill themselves than to be alive." Professor Lena explained, Kraig listened and held onto the transparent shell.

"They don’t have definite shape or bodies, they are made of darkness, like air, light, or a shadow, we can see but can’t grasp it. They couldn’t be touched or removed from their host, even if they were to be subdued by holy water, it would come back as soon as they could."

"Even if the host chose to fight it and stayed alive, it would only take them days to live, because once the holy water cleanses the body, it would turn into waste and can’t be used again. The supply of holy water was only limited. And every hour the quoko would show up to devour its host. It would start from a small circular spot on her body, and would spread if it was not promptly subjugated by holy water; it would spread like a wildfire."

"W-what? I thought her curse was about being comatose and mental suffering?!" Kraig aggrieved, "Why does she have that kind of parasite too?!"

"It is added... whoever it may be, they keep on adding curses on her because they know she is still alive." Professor Lena replied and turned to Matteo.

"I tried looking for a cure but there was no other way Matteo, we should find the source and kill the culprit who curses my daughter or else, even in this space she wouldn’t last long. The quoko in her body were multiplying, it won’t be long and even holy water that you purified won’t be able to help her." As Lena was talking, Lyndon grabbed Matteo’s collar and wrinkled his face.

He still had lots of questions and his mind was still in chaos, none of today’s revelations appeased his worries, it kept on piling up. It was even worse than Yanarym deliberately cheating on him. He rather had her being unfaithful than dying!

"I heard about your identity, why can’t you just take this curse away? Aren’t you a god?" He glared at Matteo but Matteo only stared at him with nonchalant eyes.

"Don’t shout, Yanarym might be sleeping but she could hear us, and she’s a lot more sensitive so be mindful of your tone and voice. Don’t scare her, that’s the least you can do." Matteo said and brushed Lyndon’s hands off his clothes. "And I don’t want to hear ridicule from a human, much more to the reason who caused this to happen to her."

"I didn’t curse her." Lyndon blurted, "I could hate her for what she had done to me but I cannot hurt her." Matteo sneered at what he heard. He was sure that Lyndon was the reason though.

"Let her out, Lyndon can try healing her. He has that ability." Kraig intercepted, "We should use every means to save her."

"He’s just a mage, I’m a God, do you think I am weaker than him?" Matteo uttered, "If you are desperate to injure her, go and probe further. You don’t even know a thing but keep on blabbering."

"I am not," Kraig replied, "I am just thinking of a solution."

"Then, don’t think. You’re irritating me."

"...I’m trying to save the life of my ’girlfriend’." Kraig creased his brows.

’Save her?’ Matteo’s eyes gleamed icily and gawked at Kraig’s eyes. Said by the boy who tried to burn Yanarym to death when they were kids? Matteo snickered, he had been itching to end Kraig’s measly life. If only he was not mindful of Yanarym’s feelings he would simply do whatever he liked.

He could still remember when Yanarym almost died. Boys at a young age like pretty girls, and Yanarym was the prettiest girl in this town. Lyndon and Kraig liked her when they were young, and Yanarym had a crush on both of them too, Matteo knew. There was nothing about Yanarym that he wouldn’t know.

Yanarym liked Lyndon more than she liked Kraig and that fact made Kraig mad and jealous, so he tried to set her on fire --- to make her the ugliest girl alive. But she was unscratched or unhurt no matter how many fireballs he sent in her direction. Tiana, Kraig’s minion, whispered like a devil to him, to kill Yanarym instead. Lyndon protected Yanarym, and the protection Matteo gave activated, the fire that was coming from Kraig on got stronger and it exploded consuming everything that was near them. But Yanarym was fast on her feet and saved Kraig. Tiana that was at his side entered the sphere too, although the sphere did its best to protect them, it still took too much life core from Yanarym’s body. That was why she lost consciousness and was asleep for days.

And upon waking up, the first thing she did was begged Matteo to save her killer’s life---Kraig’s life.